The owners of a rural Platte County home that burned to the ground Sunday returned to pick through the rubble Monday afternoon.

Michael and Tracy Simon weren't home when the fire broke out over the weekend. A neighbor reported the fire well after it had started.

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Firefighters said they didn't have enough water to knock down the fire when they got to the scene. The area around the home doesn't have any fire hydrants, just flush valves from the water department.

"We thought that was a hydrant," said Michael Simon. "We thought there would be adequate water out here. You never think you house is going to catch on fire. It's crazy. It's ridiculous."

"(In) this neighborhood of approximately 30 houses, we have no fire hydrant here," said neighbor Tonya Elliott.

Crews said they had to haul water to the scene from at least a mile away.

"My neighbors are furious," said Michael Simon. "They're all under the same perception we were, that those (flush valves) were hydrants, that the fire districts and the water districts out here can save a house in a fire. And they can't."

Crews said they typically use tanker trucks to put out fires in that part of the county, but they were surprised to find the lines dry when they got there.

"They think because you turn on the faucet and you get water and you don't have a well, you're good. And that's not the case when you live out in the country," said Dean Cull of the Southern Platte County Fire District.

The Platte County Fire District said it had planned to check the lines in that area this fall, but crews weren't able to get to it before the weather turned cold. A crew was testing the line on Monday.

"If they're testing it, they should know. They should test it, try it, turn those valves off ensure the water can be stopped and started, and there's water from the hydrants. It's ridiculous," said Michael Simon.

He said that he, his wife and little girl will all be living with his brother for a while.